A Jar Of Wishing Stars
by OlKaJa-Hime747
Summary: In an alternate universe, the characters of Blazblue find themselves once again faced with the threat of Terumi's wrath. New characters will appear, many thirsting for revenge. Beastkin, werewolves, vampires, and humans will converge to stem the tide of evil. But are they also drowning in their own demons? Can they defeat Terumi? Can they save themselves? Warnings: OC, AU
1. Prologue

The sun hung low, slowly setting beneath the horizon, gilding the treetops in golden light.

Outside of town, hidden from view by a copse of trees there stood a small cottage. Its walls of wood absorbed the sun's dying rays, accumulating warmth that seeped into the house, adding new heat to the embers of a fire that mirrored its massive, far away solar counterpart.

But all the beauty of the surrounding forest dyed in swaths of sunset went unnoticed by the lovers within the cottage.

Instead they lay tangled on the couch, gazing at each other. They had long washed of the sweet sweat of their earlier love making and were sprawled on the cushions, hair still damp from their shared shower.

The silver-blonde woman looked up at her lover, blue eyes meeting brown. She gazed upon his stubble dusted face lovingly, smiling as he looked back at her with equal passion and tenderness.

She snuggled further into his warm chest fondly recalling the day they had first met.

She had found him wounded in the woods and saved him.

_**There in a clearing she could clearly see a man lying wounded upon his back. As she got closer she realized that the blood seeped out from a rather nasty gash in his side. His prone form laid still but his face twisted into this and that obviously conveying his agony. With his stubble and a halo of long, sleek hair he looked lost between elegant and scruffy. She rushed over and reached down to touch him but no sooner had she bent her knees that a thunderous growl rumbled from her right. The sound sent shivers through her, instinct screaming at her to flee. She backed away from the man slowly, the source of the terrible noise coming into view.**_

_**The mountain of grey fur and coiled muscle approached the body slowly keeping its golden eyes on her, teeth bared.**_

'_A dire wolf' __**she thought, amazed and terrified**__ 'Father used to tell me stories but… I never thought I'd actually see one…'_

_**The creature crept closer, causing her to retreat even further and her heart sank as it got even closer to the wounded stranger.**_

'_Is that man it's kill?' __**She wondered, horrified at the thought. She was about to rip a branch from a tree and run to the wounded man but stopped when the beast leaned in and nudged the man with its muzzle. **_

_**The man opened his eyes and tried to manage a smile at it. The beast stared back balefully.**_

"_**Gouen…don't worry. I'll be… fine" he whispered between coughs.**_

_**The massive wolf gave a soft, growling yip-bark and shook its head.**_

"_**I know *cough* I know… Stupid silver dagger…"**_

_**This time there was a snarl, a whine followed by a rolling growl.**_

_**She stood stock still, amazed by the events unfolding before her.**_

'_That man is obviously dying… and he's having some sort of nonchalant conversation… with a wolf…that's eight times his size…'_

_**She shook her head and pinched her arm, ensuring she was indeed still in reality.**_

_**She now noticed that the man had turned to look at her and he beckoned her over weakly with one hand.**_

"_**Hello" he rasped a hand making its way to his wound in a sluggish attempt to staunch the blood rushing from it and to hide it from the silvernette. **_

"'_**Hello'? 'Hello'?!" she nearly yelled, anger bubbling up suddenly " You're lying on the forest floor, bleeding out as you have a little chat with a giant wolf and all you have to say is a lousy hello?!"**_

"_**Don't worry" he coughed "I just need to stop the bleeding. My body heals incredibly fast" **_

_**The woman merely scoffed before tearing the bottom of her dress to press upon his wound all the while mumbling something about how men always think they're super human.**_

"_**What happened?"**_

"_**Well *cough* long story short, some bastard came out of nowhere and stabbed me with a bloody damn silver dagger". The man groaned at the memory, shame bringing slight color back into his pale cheeks.**_

'_Silver dagger?__**' The woman thought. **__Silver….Silver!___

"_**You're a werewolf, aren't you?" she asked in an unreadable tone.**_

_**Sadness colored the man's eyes and he turned away mumbling affirmation.**_

"_**If you do not wish to help me any longer *cough* I understand." The woman seemed to contemplate this for a moment. The villagers would skin her alive if they caught word of her their encounter. After all, this entire town's favorite hobby was slaying beasts of any kind; if it had sharp teeth it was going to become a wall mount.**_

_**Scoffing again she ripped another piece from her skirts and beckoned the wolf over.**_

"_**If we're to get to my cottage before nightfall I suggest you get your friend to help carry you."**_

_**The man's eyes lit up in confusion then softened in gratitude.**_

"_**Thank you miss…?"**_

"_**Annabelle." She replied over her shoulder "Annabelle Ravenwright."**_

_**The brunette coughed and smiled crookedly.**_

"_**Valkenhayn Hellsing"**_

It had been a year since then and they had moved on to become lovers; Annabelle finding comfort in Valkenhayn's crooked smile and he finding solace in her deep silver eyes.

Which is why when the villagers came marching to her cottage in a rage they gazed at each other with wistfully despairing eyes. This day had been coming; they had known it from the start. The pair had prepared for this day and so when they kissed for the last time and Valkenhayn swore he'd return one day, Annabelle held back her tears.

Only when he had fled into the forest, townsfolk on his tail, did she let the tears fall. Salty ache trailed down her cheeks, the lack of his warmth leaving her in agony.

In her pain she sank to the floor, sobs wracking her body as she whispered,

"You better come back… For both of us"

Then she draped herself on the floor, a sobbing wreck, with both hands on her slightly swelled stomach.


	2. Chapter 1

The sun was setting along the pine tree lined horizon. It set the evergreens ablaze with orange, the clouds above gently swathed in its dying rays. The clear, crisp air of the approaching evening promised an uninhibited view of the midnight sky later that night.

'_The view this castle provides is splendid for a structure in the human world.'_

The petite vampire mistress smirked, sipping her tea. Darjeeling, black, and imported from across the seas. The blend was her favorite and mirrored the rich sunset with its bright, fruity, spiciness that faded into an astringent aftertaste. It was called the champagne of teas and fitted a noble like her perfectly.

"A worthy purchase wouldn't you say, Valkenhayn?"

Her butler's ears were attuned to her British lilt and he appeared on the balcony to respectfully inquire whether she meant the tea or the castle. After letting out a surprised, bell-like laugh the blonde replied that she supposed she meant both and settled down with her tea once again.

Just as Valkenhayn was preparing a dinner consisting of a light salad for his mistress, a ringing sound echoed through the forest. The open windows let the sound into the castle, its harsh chime lancing through the quiet of the night.

"That isn't the doorbell, correct." It was more of a statement than a question.

"No m'lady. It was one of the forest traps I set upon our arrival. I suppose I shall check on the poor creature."

His pigtailed mistress thought a moment and then stood up, a bit to his surprise.

"I shall go with you. I have an inkling that this is no ordinary visitor, animal or no."

They made their way to the ringing. It was constant. The bells attached to the trap were designed to alert the setter of capture. And the animal's consistent, desperate attempts to escape would give the setter a clear, clanging trail of sound to follow. A simple but useful tool for the hunters of old.

The lantern Valkenhayn carried lit the way with an eerie orange glow, reminiscent of the earlier sunset. It bathed the surrounding tree trunks in saffron light and gilded his mistress' pale skin to a honeyed hue. All along the way the resounding bell sounds filled the forest. It wasn't until they were deep into the forest that they noticed something strange about the bells' ringing.

"The bells. They're ringing in a rhythm." He remarked.

"Then there's no doubt left. That's not a simple forest animal in that trap." The blonde vampire replied.

Moments later they came upon the trap, its clanging had faded after their brief exchange and the body that dangled from the snare by a leg hung still. But not limp.

The figure would be sitting cross legged if the forest floor existed several meters in the air. In a display of sheer muscular strength and control the now distinguishable female pulled herself up the wire into an upright position and swung to face Valkenhayn and his mistress.

"And who might you be, child?" The blonde inquired amused with the display.

The young woman merely narrowed her eyes.

"Name." She repeated, still amused but her cadence was a bit more authoritative

"Do you think I'm foolish enough to give you my name? A vampire like you would have no trouble invoking _all sorts_ of mischief on me." The slender woman replied snappishly.

"Well you'll just have to sooner or later. You came for a reason, did you not? After all, you wouldn't have gotten caught in that trap on purpose otherwise. Could you cut her down, Valkenhayn?"

However when she turned to look at him, he was pale as a sheet, his furrowed brows adding to the creases of age that marred his face.

"Annabelle…?" He murmured, voice low and disbelieving. He failed to heed his mistress' words, lost to the world somewhere in his own mind.

Silently and swiftly the woman caught in the snare drew a knife from her boot and sliced the steel wire that bound her to the tree, the bells whispering metallically with her movements. Flipping through the air, she landed soundlessly, knees bent before standing to her full height. She was barely taller than the petite blonde, a couple inches at most.

The vampire was staring at her butler with a curious look, wondering slightly at what had her normally stoic companion so out of sorts. Her gaze flicked to the strange woman when she next spoke.

"No. My name is Helen." She said reluctantly, flicking her silver bangs. Now that she was closer and in range of the lantern light, her features were startlingly apparent. Her silver eyes especially.

_Interesting, _the pale noble thought, _a descendant of the Dalish_.

Although her eyes glowed in the light their gaze was steely. There was a certain pinch to her brow and her jaw was set.

"I am Rachel Alucard and this is-"

"I know who he is. My mother's name was Annabelle. Annabelle Ravenwright" Staring harder at the werewolf butler, who was looking more distraught with every word she then said,

"The fact that you know her name must mean that you're Valkenhayn." The woman, Helen, then took a deep breath her eyelids falling shut. A second later they shot open, flashing like a rapier, and she smirked the most rage coated smirk Rachel had ever seen in her entire one hundred and three year long life.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, Father."

Despite the initial hostility, Helen kept her temper if only to spare herself of Rachel's wrath. Although she had already visibly upset Valkenhayn and therefore had incurred some subtle punishment regardless of manners.

Behind the snark, Rachel realized that the girl was clever and very observant. The vampire had lived a long time and had learned the art of espionage simply to survive and even make a living in her fledgling days. She was startled to find that Helen watched her and Valkenhayn so closely, while maintaining her aloof and brooding air.

They sat down for tea in the kitchen but Valkenhayn was still lost to another world.

'_From shock, no doubt. Suddenly finding out that one has a daughter… A titanic surprise at the very least.'_

Just then a groan came from the sitting room and footsteps approached the kitchen.

"Ah. Victor, you're awake." Rachel remarked

"Victor this is Helen our…. guest. Helen this is Victor our grounds keeper here at the castle."

"Yo." The young man greeted briefly.

He was quite tall and had strange hair, green, shimmery and plaited almost like scales. The stubble on his chin was as dark a beryl as the evergreen trees outside. If Helen was surprised by the large, serpentine tail he possessed she didn't show it. She simply sniffed the air, looked him up and down and huffed under her breath. The man was miffed but remained silent.

"He is a snake beastkin."

"Obviously" Helen drawled, clearly not thrilled to be there.

Rachel simply smirked and sent Victor off to make tea and help Valkenhayn to bed. The demi-beast glanced at Valkenhayn worriedly but did as he was told. The distraught butler cast a dazed gaze upon the two women but followed without complaint

"Why don't you tell me why you're here? I'm being a respectful hostess and here you are acting like a petulant child. Surely you are older than twelve, if my eyes do not deceive me." The jab was small and but the silvernette's punishment had just begun.

"Bite me." She spat

Rachel smirked sultrily.

"A foolhardy insult to throw at a vampire."

Realizing her mistake, Helen looked away and growled her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"I came looking for my father, alright." She huffed, "After my training was complete Gouen, the guardian of my home forest told me to seek out Valkenhayn Hellsing, my sire, and to make peace with him before it was too late."

"Hmmm" the vampire hummed.

"So my Valkenhayn is you're father? Would that make you half werewolf? I suppose that's what the pointed ears are all about, hm?"

The half-werewolf blushed and ducked her head. Her ears had always been a form of shame for her, it was a physical manifestation of her shameful half-bloodedness. She was impure, neither human or wolf or even full werewolf. She disliked her heritage but she had loved her mother dearly. After her death, she was devastated and threw herself into her training. She hated the murderer who orphaned her. Hated the world, hated her father. Luckily she had Gouen, a dire wolf who had been like family to her. He trained her to hone her anger into a more refined power, like a blade.

She looked down at the dark ink that looped her wrist. Using her mind, the tattoo was used to summon a pair of ornate sickles linked by an almost infinite chain. Legend had it that the magic users of old had created special, magical weapons attuned to the spirit energy of their masters. The weapons were near sentient and passed down through generations only manifesting for those in the bloodline who were worthy of their power. Her scythes were one such artifact. The day it manifested was the day she left her home on the journey to find her father. Four years later here she was, being interrogated by a small vampire who radiated almost no aura. Rachel no doubt hid massive power behind her grace and delicacy.

"Yes. The moon cycles also affect me in mild ways." Helen replied trying to be less harsh. She supposed that Rachel was right about her attitude.

At that moment Victor returned, tea in hand.

"You're kind of like me then." He said smirking, trying to be friendly despite the way the silvernette brushed him off earlier.

She simply raised her brow at him.

"It's a beastkin thing. Being a quarter wolf makes you kind of similar, I guess"

"Perhaps" She murmured brusquely

Rachel simply watched, amused at how much her apprentice was getting refuted.

Victor decided to switch tactics. She was attractive after all and brooding girls were just his type.

"C'mon no need to be so cold. I'm just trying to be friendly. We need more pretty girls in this dusty ol' castle after all. Valkenhayn's too male for me." He glanced at his mistress "And miss Rachel is too old- I mean mature for my tastes" he corrected himself after the vampire had given him a stern glare.

Helen put down her tea and said,

"Thank you but no thanks. Someone who insults others in order to score a date have no place romancing me at all. I'm not interested in you. Or any male for that matter. I like my men how I like my coffee. I don't like coffee. More of a tea person to be honest. 'Just being_ friendly'_, indeed." She then picked her tea back up and sipped from it tranquilly.

Victor stood there open mouthed, and Rachel giggled aloud.

"She surely layed into you like a blade, Victor" She said, now a little delighted with the new company to amuse her.

While Victor was slightly offended he supposed it wasn't personal as Helen had said all men were not her type and not just he himself. He was also glad that the young woman had made his mistress laugh which was so very rare in all the time he had known her. His lips curled into a small smile.

"Miss Ravenwright, you seem to own a tongue as silver as your hair. I find it entertaining. I have decided to let you stay here."

Helen was about to protest but the blonde held up a hand to stop her.

"Seeing as how you're my dear Valkenhayn's daughter I must at least let you two solve your predicament. As payment you shall do chores and train with Victor. That way he will have some _friendly_ company."

The young halfblood mulled over it for a moment. It's not like she had anywhere else to stay. She needed to make up with her father. Her mother was dead and she had left her home years ago. He was all she had left.

"Alright I'll stay."

"Yes!" Victor exclaimed his tongue lingering on the _S_ just a second too long.

"And Helen" The other occupants of the room gazed at her questioningly causing her to blush and turn away.

"You can just call me Helen." She said again

Rachel's lips curved into a small but genuine smile

"Welcome to Alucard castle, Helen."

"The mistress is already fond of you" Victor intoned quietly behind her.

He had stumbled upon Helen in the upstairs sitting room while making the last of his rounds. Her already pale figure was even paler in the moonlight. She was dressed in a simple tank top and loose jeans. Her hair was a river of mercury against the white of her top. The snake beastkin noticed scars on her upper arms that were no doubt intentional judging by the consistency and evenness of the lines. He said nothing about them.

"Really? She scares me to be honest"

He laughed.

"She should. She's quite old and very powerful."

The half-blood was adept at sensing spirit energy and had realized how powerful Rachel was in no time flat.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome, Sergeant Sarcasm."

Helen and Victor smiled at each other.

"Well," he said "We should be off to bed. The Lady likes us to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn to clean."

She smirked.

"Right."

In the months that followed Helen learned the ropes of the castle and the habits of its residents. Things with her father were tentative at first and she often had to fight off her temper but they soon fell into a comfortable rhythm and space. She and Victor were fast friends. As her anger slowly but surely, the others realized she was actually more on the serious side. Yet she and the snake beastkin would banter every so often and Rachel would look on fondly. Valkenhayn as well. The mistress and her butler started to stay longer and longer with each visit to the human world from their hidden dimension and then they stopped leaving and just stayed. They eventually became almost like a family.

Victor had once remarked, while he and Helen were out for groceries, that they were a family. They two were the children, Rachel was the kind yet aloof father figure and Valkenhayn was the mother, always cleaning and making dinner and fetching Rachel beverages. Helen then muttered that their mistress was "a bit too mature" for her father making her friend erupt in surprised laughter, nearly crumpling to the floor in mirth.

The months turned into years and all seemed well. Helen was happy for the first time in years. She almost forgot about her mother's murderer. Among the laughter and banter she almost forgot the pain of her childhood. But there they lied, deep in her mind, imbedded in her very being.

So she never truly forgot.

There would come a day when they would reawaken. Everything would come flooding back to her and despair would loom on the horizon like a tsunami wave; rising, cresting, breaking, and washing over the land, engulfing everything.

Like a messenger bird, that day would be a harbinger of the chaos to come. It flew towards the content denizens of the castle, undetected until it was suddenly upon them.

Nothing would be the same again.


	3. Chapter 2

The cacophony within the stairwell swelled, resounding throughout the large, antique sitting room. Yet, in spite of all the commotion, the elegant vampire seemed unfazed simply waiting patiently for her new guests.

Victor too seemed so calm as if he were accustomed to such a raucous guest trampling over their mistress' peace and quiet. Helen decided to play the game as well. She donned an expression of stoicism to mask her curiosity and nervousness. So when Valkenhayn strode back into the room with the visitors in tow, all one could see of the young half werewolf's face was a tight-lipped frown under slightly slanted brows.

The silvernette continued to observe silently as the two young men sauntered through the staircase archway. A lengthy, crimson coat flashed into sight as the snow haired man marched forward, closer and closer. Helen looked past him to examine the tall blonde behind him just walking through the archway. Then, suddenly, there were the albino's eyes staring right at her. Seeing the blaze in those heterochromatic eyes; one red, one green, made Helen's expression falter slightly.

Ever so subtly Rachel had been watching the girl's reaction and now smirked when Helen's shy aura clashed with the albino's brazenness the moment their eyes met. The near undetectable curl of her lips was reflected upon her butler's face as he also observed his daughter's reaction to the newcomer. Leaving his blonde brother behind at the doorway, the man marched right up to the vampire sitting in front of the fire.

"Oi! Rabbit. What's going on?!" The crimson clad young man growled at Rachel. The golden haired vampire said nothing at first, preferring to gaze levelly into the fire and after a moment replied,

"Must you be so loud, Ragna. It's quite rude to barge into someone's home shouting such a racket."

"Shut up. You knew we were coming. I woke up this morning with practically no control over my legs and my body decided to walk me here without my consent!"

The vampire contemplated that development. One needed extremely powerful magus to control another's limbs against their own will. She had known the two brothers were to arrive sometime soon yet she knew not which of the six heroes had sent them. The clue that Ragna had just given her now solved the enigma. Their benefactor was none other than the Trinity Nine herself.

Three months ago a fire message had come to her one evening asking for her aid in the upcoming war. All who knew him had known he would return someday. No matter how much they hoped, how much they dreamed the truth lingered in the back of their minds. Yuuki Terumi would return. Evil always does.

And so, the mysterious message had requested that Rachel train the "youngsters" for the battle ahead. Everyone would have their role to play during the soon-to-be siege and the young military academy graduates were no different.

The pig-tailed vampire sighed and turned away from the fire back to the brash albino in the middle of the sitting room.

"It is not for me to name who sent you. All you need to know is that they are an ally and not an enemy." She leveled her gaze with Ragna's, and then she turned her eyes across the entire room, her stare slicing through the thick tension like a keen edged katana.

"Terumi has returned" Those three words fell upon the room, a rain of lead weights that shattered the silence.

Victor growled deep in his throat, seeming to voice the expression that crossed Valkenhayn's face. Jin simply frowned whilst Ragna started to mutter to himself and Rachel, who simply kept staring at the fire.

And Helen. Helen who had been standing stock still since those three daggers of words pierced her heart, barely breathing, was lost within the depths of her mind, her memories.

'_He's still alive?'_

'_**Not for long',**_ a part of her growled back. The syllables of his dreadful name revived the agony she had experienced that day. She felt her hands clench into fists, sharp nails gouging into the soft flesh of her palm. Her hands were bleeding, she was sure, but the pain was spectral. She had been transported back to a place, a time when the pain and blood had been so suffocating she could not, dare not, breathe.

She saw the flames, the poison green hair. She saw the river of blood that pooled about her mother. Saw the rich, red, liquid life staining her beautiful brown hair, her face, haloing her head with crimson vitality.

She recalled the screams, her screams, demanding that the man should give her mother back. She charged him in rage the result of which had sent her flying into a burning wall, the last standing pillar of her home colliding with her spine, shattering the vertebrae as another wooden beam shredded a hole through her right leg.

She retraced the waves of pain back to the bone aching effort it took to crawl over to her mother's body. She recollected the feeling of failure that echoed through her empty heart as she watched her mother's murderer escape.

She had searched far and wide for any sign of him on the journey to find her father but to no avail. He had become lost in time and space, impossible to find.

Until now.

'_**kill…'**_

'_**Kill'**_

'_**KILL!...'**_

Her body chanted to her. It rose up in rage at the agony it had undergone all those years ago and howled for the blood of the one who had trespassed upon its vitality. She envisioned her hand crushing his neck, the cervical bones crunching as she broke. Every. Last…

A cool hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

"Are you alright Helen?" Victor asked gently, the scowl from earlier now gone from his face.

The girl in question watched the tissues of her hand knit themselves back together from the bleeding crescents cleaved by her nails. The only evidence that they had ever existed were the five trails of blood running from each hand.

And unable to speak around the lump of shame in her throat, the young half werewolf tried to manage a nod, the bob of her head so slight that the snake beast kin would not have been able to detect it if he had not been watching his younger friend so attentively.

However neither demi-beast had time to contemplate the past few moments for their mistress had more to say.

"Based on some information I had gathered, Terumi plans to awaken a faux black beast army along with new creatures he had Relius Clover create which he calls 'Angel Fiends'. He's plotting to attack all the major cities of the world all at once, come fall next year." The vampire finished grimly.

After those words there was a moment of silence, as if to mourn the death of the foolish hope that evil would be easy to beat.

The seconds ticked by and Jin was about to speak but at that very moment a sweet chiming sound rose through the air of the castle, echoing down stairwells and brightening even the darkest corridor. It lifted the somber mood from the sitting room. Helen noticed her lady even smile a little.

"It seems we have more guests"

Helen sat with the others, seeming to wait patiently but on the inside her mind was reeling and her gut was churning. The fact that their sitting room had now been somewhat conquered by humans was finally getting to her. She could feel the fear seeping and creeping into her bones.

She could feel the sting of the branches and stones that flew through the air straight at her. Could smell and taste the metallic stench of her blood dripping down her face. Could hear the sharp hissing chime of the boys' knife being drawn moments before it chunked away her long silver hair. Could see the human children grin as the boy jabbed her into the ground with his boot.

Sensing his friend's distress Victor reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. They're good people. Lady Rachel trusts them."

"I know. It's these new ones I'm worried about" she lied

Valkenhayn came striding back in, carrying a pair of bulky suitcases with ease. Behind him walked two females; the blond walked slowly, gasping at the castle's architecture, pretty green eyes gazing about the room. The redhead however was a bit more refined, her step crisp and elegant, she was definitely of noble blood, yet the nervous smile on her face betrayed her apprehension. A smile that sent Helen swooning so hard she almost bumped into Victor when they stood for greetings.

"Welcome Noel Vermillion and Tsubaki Yayoi to Darjeeling castle" Valkenhayn said in a warm, baritone voice then bowed.

'_Oh dear, more humans' _Helen thought worriedly as Victor introduced himself.

Since the silvernette seemed lost in thought once again the beryl haired beast kin decided to bait her.

"And this is-"

"Enough Victor." She warned sternly, snapping from her daze " I can introduce myself. I'm not five."

'_Hook, line and sinker! Haha'_ Victor was grinning on the inside

If there was one thing the half werewolf couldn't stand it would be embarrassment. A grown girl not being able to introduce herself would be truly embarrassing.

'_Who knows what that dork would have said about me anyway? Hmph'_

The silver haired girl smirked, her fear of shame giving her enough confidence to even shake Noel's hand.

'_Thanks Victor'_

If Helen seemed out of it before she really was a full fledged space cadet after truly sizing up Tsubaki for the first time.

Beautiful crimson hair framing a flawless ivory face inset with sapphire eyes so deep a blue that Helen got lost in them instantly, feeling as if a cyan eternity stretched in every direction and she was lost on a shifting blue tide as vast as the sky.

A memory crashed upon her shoulders like a wave upon the shore: The memory of a young bluebird who had told her the story of the young crimson haired girl who saved him from dying in the city streets.

"_**After I got shot down she saved me. There I was lying in a puddle when she rescued me. She pulled the pellet out and fixed me up real good, see?" the bird lifted his wing to show off his battle scar, a small area on his side that refused to grow the feathers because of the scar tissue. Other than that he seemed perfectly healthy. **_

"_**She was a very sweet girl. She liked to sing with me, especially this one song. But of course she couldn't speak bird with me as we are now"**_

"_**Whatever Talael. I still think it's pretty far fetched." The young twelve year old Helen frowned recalling all the beatings the village children had given her over the span of nearly her entire life.**_

"_**There's no way a human could be so nice. Maybe it was because you're actually full bluebird." The girl said fingering her short silver hair. Her mother had evened it out after the human kids had hacked most of it off.**_

"_**No. I'm telling you that she's a very kind girl. You'd get along well together"**_

"_**Hmph. I'll have to see it to believe it"**_

_**For the next few weeks, Talael the bluebird didn't talk of anything but his redheaded savior.**_

"_**She was so pretty."**_

"_**Kind of tall for her age"**_

"_**She had the most beautiful blue eyes. As vast and deep a blue as the sky I tell you"**_

_**And before long, the young Helen had started to believe him. She imagined the girl with the red hair and blue eyes and kind smile and soon grew infatuated with the image. **_

_**From then on, whenever the village children decided to beat her she didn't fight back, she never had, instead she imagined kind blue eyes and a gentle smile. Believing in the existence of such a kind human gave her the strength to forgive her tormentors over and over again.**_

_**Sometime later when Talael's savior story had died down and Helen's own unvoiced savior story had only just begun the silvernette surprised the young bluebird she had raised from an orphaned hatchling.**_

"_**Can you teach me that song she was so fond of?"**_

"_**Huh? I thought you didn't believe me" The bluebird hooted despite the bird grin his beak curled into**_

"_**Yeah well I changed my mind okay?" the petite half werewolf huffed, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.**_

"_**Haha I knew you'd come around!"**_

"_**Whatever"**_

And there she was.

The young girl who had saved her dear friend from death was the same woman who stood in front of her now. It had to be her. By the young woman's eyes the silvernette knew that she was the one.

She could finally put a face to all of Talael's kind words and paint reality upon her own imaginings, both of which had saved her life as a young girl as well as her friend's life.

Gratitude filled Helen's chest and like an overfilled tea cup she instinctively tipped forward into a low bow, right hand on her heart, unable to help the words of thanks pouring from her lips, warm and saccharine.

"Lady Yayoi, many years ago you saved a friend of mine once from certain death. I ,Helen Ravenwright, am truly, eternally grateful"

The woman in question gave a puzzled smile to Noel and Victor who seemed to be watching curiously.

Ragna was ignoring them preferring to inspect the shelves lining the walls instead. And Jin, as always, was two steps behind him seeming to stalk him somewhat. That was completely fine with Tsubaki. She didn't care for Ragna and only put up with him for Noel's sake and the albino seemed to feel the same of her. She hadn't spoken with Jin since their academy days and the previous crush she had on him was now practically nonexistent.

Instead she decided to focus on the strange girl before her who had made an even stranger declaration.

"Um I'm sorry but I'm not quite sure what you're talking about…"

The eccentric girl straightened giving her a good look at her face. The ears gave her a bit of a start; extending upward farther than human ears they pinnacled to a point at the top.

'_Kind of like the elves in those children's storybooks'_

Then their eyes met.

And.

Time.

Simply.

Stopped.

'_Her eyes… they're cool like steel yet liquid somehow, soft like mercury'_

Tsubaki's hands seemed to itch for her paints, to recreate that image of those silver irises, but in that timeless moment everything but those shining eyes seemed light-years away.

'_Yes. Flowing and gentle yet sturdy. Wild but reserved… like condensed moonlight.'_

She took in the rest of the girl's appearance, forgetting to take in a breath. The collared shirt and slacks Helen wore could not hide the slim, athletic figure underneath.

Her hair was an argental river that flowed over her shoulder in front and down the curve of her spine in back, the gleaming strands swept up into a ponytail. Her fringe had escaped tie to frame her face and concealing her left eye.

Her face was a delicate shape with nearly Asian eyes and dainty brows. Helen seemed to be the perfect image of fragility, that is, until you looked into her eyes. The naked determination and cunning in those pools of mercury seemed to stem from wildness within the girl, as feral as she was human.

And her aura was sturdy and sharp, like an unsheathed blade. Yet, it appeared to be taken in a defensive stance, energy curled around itself, wary like a wounded animal.

Noticing that Tsubaki was obviously out of it Noel decided to sit down and wait for Victor to return with the tea.

It wasn't until he walked back over carrying a large tray that the two young women snapped out of it.

"Ah Miss Tsubaki. Helen. Welcome back to reality. Care for some tea?"


End file.
